Space Shuttle Atlantis docked at the International Space Station's Destiny laboratory on Sunday at 3:36 p.m. EDT.
Engineers started evaluating whether the shuttle's damaged heat shield should be fixed by astronauts. Engineers who studied damage to the thermal blanket area on other shuttle missions were uncomfortable with the safety margins of a piece of the blanket sticking out during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.
"The concern is that if it sticks up, you get additional heating," said John Shannon, chairman of the mission management team.A decision whether to repair the damage in space will be made in the next day or two.
Image credit: NASA TV
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